Tag Archive: Queer Liberation

Georgia’s prison officials will have to explain themselves in court if they continue to refuse hormone therapy to transgender inmates, warns a letter delivered to the state’s Department of Corrections on Tuesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group based in Alabama.

Starting in 2012, department employees violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by denying hormone treatment to Ashley Diamond, a transgender inmate who had received the treatment for nearly two decades before entering the prison system, the letter alleges.

If these allegations are true, the officials also breached the department’s own policy, which calls for Georgia’s prisons to provide hormones to all inmates who start taking them before their incarceration.

Ryan Conrad, co-founder of the Against Equality collective, with his new book, Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion.

By Isabelle Nastasia

How did the movement get here? What if lesbians oppose war? What if gay men don’t want to expand the prison system? What if marriage doesn’t address poverty? These are some of the questions raised by the Against Equality collective in its new book Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusionpublished this year by AK Press.

The Against Equality collective is an archival project created by five queer and trans activists and writers. First and foremost, their new book is an anthology of critiques of the issues that have come to define gay and lesbian politics over the past 20 years. But it also proposes alternative paths for the movement, putting forth both prison abolition and transformative justice as distinctly queer political projects.

Isabelle Nastasia recently sat down with Ryan Conrad, co-founder of the Against Equality collective, in the East Village to discuss the book and the politics behind his own work. (more…)

For the first time in state prison history, a transgender juvenile is being detained at an adult prison.

The juvenile was sent to York Correctional Institution in Niantic on Tuesday after a judge transferred custody of the teen from the state Department of Children and Families.

DCF wouldn’t talk about the decision. Instead it issued a statement saying a state law allows the transfer of juvenile delinquents in DCF custody to Corrections when they can’t be safely held by the state child welfare agency.

Advocates for the 16-year-old said she’s not dangerous, and that a prison setting is not in her best interests, especially when DCF just opened a locked unit for girls in Middletown.

Sarah Eagan, the state Child Advocate, said, “This is a youth that has not been convicted of an adult crime in an adult court that is now being placed in an adult correctional facility. This is a tremendously unusual and concerning action by the state against a 16-year-old.” (more…)

The benefit is for the Luke O’Donovan Support Committee. Luke is a young queer person living in Atlanta who was attacked by over 10 homophobic men on New Year’s Eve of 2013. In the process of the attack, six people, including Luke were stabbed. Luke is now facing 5 counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted Luke is facing up to 100 years in prison. Because the charges are so severe, Luke has amassed a large amount of legal fees. Come show your support against queerbashing and for self-defense.

It has been over a year since Luke was arrested and charged with five felonies after being assaulted on New Year’s Eve. We apologize for the long delays between updates. Luke’s case has been moving very slowly. He has had only one minor court appearance since his release in January of 2013.

We write now to publicize Luke’s next court date, which will be a motions hearing set forThursday, January 30th at 10am. At court, Luke’s lawyers will argue for Luke to be granted a Self-Defense Immunity Hearing, where a case would be made for Luke having acted in self-defense. If a Self-Defense Immunity Hearing finds that Luke did indeed act in self-defense, Luke would be immune from prosecution under Georgia law.

So far we have raised over $9,000 to cover Luke’s lawyer fees, bond, and other court and jail costs. There have been fundraisers across the country, and for this we are grateful. Unfortunately, we still need $4,000 to cover the rest of Luke’s legal fees from now through any potential trial. Any and all donations will be appreciated. If you can’t contribute by yourself, please consider holding an event to raise money. Previous events to raise money have included a dinner and movie, dance parties, poster sales, and shows. You can donate here.

This week’s show features two parts. In the first we present a speech from the recent Carborro Anarchist bookfair by a collective member at Untorelli Press on queer resistance inside and outside of prisons in the 20th century and what we might take from the experiences of our predecessors. More from Untorelli can be found athttp://untorellipress.noblogs.org

For more on Men Against Sexism, check out this interview with Ed Mead on Earful of Queer

Secondly we’ll hear a presentation by Joe of the North American Anarchist Black Cross Medical Justice Committee. The conversation ranges over a number of topics, but focuses primarily on active and revolutionary solidarity with anarchist and other political prisoners. TAn original post with contacts can be found here: http://325.nostate.net/?p=9112

This episode will stream from AFM through 12/8/13, it will podcast at radio4all.net afterwards. Past interview archives of The Final Straw can be found at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org and you can contact us for whatever reason at thefinalstrawradio(Aaaaaat)riseup(DO T)net

The Fulton County Superior Court has indicted Luke. This means that the DA is pursuing prosecution. Luke’s lawyer appeared in court on the 27th of august for arraignment and submitted a not guilty plea. Because the case is going to trial Luke is going to have significantly more legal fees. It is yet unclear what those will look like but every bit helps. We are also asking that people call the DA’s office to demand the charges on Luke be dropped: (404) 612-4981. As of yet we are largely in the dark about what is happening and what will happen but we will keep you updated as we find out.

“As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me,” she wrote.

“I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition.” (more…)

“On the night of January 13, we smashed out the front windows of the Chi Psi frat house, 321 Cameron Ave., Chapel Hill, NC. We did this for anyone who has ever been afraid to walk the streets of this town because of harassment for their body, gender, or sexuality. This fraternity was chosen at random. All fraternities are sites of conscious self-organization for patriarchal power and the homophobia that supports it. They exist to convert this power into real capital.

Solidarity with all those imprisoned or facing imprisonment for defending themselves against homophobic or transphobic violence.”